Problem Solving at the Magical Mystery Charity Auction!

In this episode, Theo, a Big Life Kid from Montana in the United States, tells us about his mission to help struggling families in his neighborhood. Meanwhile, Zara and Leo solve a mysterious problem: how to sell the strange items at their charity auction!

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In this episode, children will:

get inspired by Theo, a real Big Life Kid who made a difference in his community
be reminded that problems can often be solved with unique solutions
join in on a fun problem solving activity

Discussion Questions

The episode takes place at a charity auction. Pick up the nearest item to your left and put on your best auction voice. How would you describe the item and persuade people to bid on it?
Theo wanted to improve the homelessness issue in his community. What is a problem you would want to solve in your community? How would you approach solving this problem?
What is a problem, big or small, that you recently faced? How did you try to solve the problem?

Supplemental Resources

Read

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson|
A story about finding clever solutions to problems.
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
A funny tale showing different solutions to retrieving something stuck in a tree.
Going Places by Paul Reynolds
A story about thinking outside the box and coming up with creative solutions to problems.

Watch

Dream Big: Engineering Our World (Movie)
This documentary follows a few inspiring engineers and their imaginative inventions.
Finding Nemo (Movie)
An animated film demonstrating, how, with a little bit of perseverance, courage and problem solving, we can achieve great things.
The Hugging Tree ~ Read With Me ~Story Time (YouTube video)
A reading of the story about a tree staying resilient despite challenges.

Activities

1. Try the Ways We Can Make a Difference Printable from the Podcast Season 1 & 2 Printable Kit. Just like Theo made a difference in his community, this activity will remind your child of the ways they can make a difference in theirs.

2. Practice problem solving together by asking your child open-ended questions. Open-ended questions improve a child’s ability to think critically and creatively, ultimately making them better problem-solvers. Examples of open-ended questions include:

How could we work together to solve this?
How did you manage it? or How do you know that?
What do you think would happen if…?

3. Listen to Episode 17- Discover the Superpower of Kindness, the episode that inspired Theo to solve the homelessness problem in his community and give back to others.

Produced by Alexandra Eidens and Big Life Journal team. Written and directed by Sarah Cyrano. Sound design and original music by Elettra Bargiacchi. Sound mixing by Mattia Marcelli. Characters played by Sean Chiplock and Ryan Bartley. Managed by Laura Maloney.